Air distributing means



Jan. 4, 1938. P. F. SPERRY 2,104,279

AIR DISTRIBUTING MEANS Filed June 10, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 4, 1938. P. F. SPERRY 2,104,279

AIR DISTRIBUTING MEANS Filed June 10, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 core through which air is advanced by a fan.

of Fig. 1.

Patented Jan. 4, 1938 2 AIR DISTRIBUTING MEANS Philmoro F. Sperry, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by

. mesne assignments, to Excel Auto Radiator Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation ot'Dclaware Application June 10, 1935, Serial No. 25,961

1 Claim. (Cl. 98-161) The invention relates to air distributing means passing through the tubes. The heater l comand is particularly adapted to be embodied in prises a housing which is designated generally automobile heaters. by the reference character 23. The housing 23 One form of the invention is embodied in an encloses the radiator core II. The housing 23 automobile heater which comprises a radiator comprises a housing member 25 which is closed at its front end by means comprising a housing member 21 having a relatively large central aperture 28 through which the heated air is advanced. The housing member 21 is provided with an annular flange 30 encircling the aperture 23 and rotat- 1o ably journaled upon the flange 30 is a shuttercarrying member or plate 3|, the shutter-carrying member 3| being formed with an annular flange 32 which rides upon the flange 30.

Disposed within the annular flange 30 is a segmental internal gear 34 with which a pinion 35 meshes. The pinion 35 is fixed to a stub shaft 36 which is provided at its outer end with a knob 31. The stub shaft 36 is rotatably journaled in a diametrically extending member 33 formed integral with the shutter-carrying member 3|. It will be noted that the stub shaft 36 is enlarged at each side of the member 38 so lat it can not be displaced longitudinally (Fig. 5).

Secured to the inner side of the member 38 by a screw 40 is a bent bar 4| which abuts against one side of the pinion 35. A screw 42 which passes through the bent bar 4| is screw-threaded into the shaft 36, the longitudinal axis of the screw 42 being coincident with the axis of rotation of the stub shaft 36. It will be noted that the bent bar 4| co-operates with a flange 44 formed integral with the flange 3|) to hold the shutter-carrying member 3| in place upon the flange 30. It will be readily understood that if the knob 31 is rotated manually in either direction the pinion 35 will travel along the toothed segment 34 and carry the shutter-carrying member 3| with it. Thus, if the knob 31 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 1) the shuttercarrying member 3| may be displaced from the position wherein it is shown in Fig. 1 to the position wherein it is shown in dotted lines in the same figure. 45

The shutter-carrying member is provided with semi-circular shutters which, when they are in their closed positions as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, will prevent the effectual flow of heated air through the radiator core even though the 50 fan 23 is in operation. The shutters 50 are provided with lugs 5| which are pivoted upon lugs 52 by pins 53, the lugs 52 being formed integral with the shutter-carrying member 3|. The shutters 50 have brackets 55 riveted thereto and flxed to 55 A housing encloses the radiator core and is provided with a large aperture through which the hated air passes. The flow of air is controlled by a plurality of baiiies or shutters pivotally mounted on a shutter-carrying member which is rotatably joiu'naled on a flange extending from the housing. Means comprising a rack and pinion is provided for angularly displacing the shutter-carrying member and means comprising a worm and worm gears is provided for angularly displacing the shutters around their pivotal axes, the construction being such that the heated air advanced from the heater can be directed as desired to heat the interior of the automobile in a comfortable manner.

Other advantages will become apparent as the following detailed description progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of an automobile heater which embodies the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 44 Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the improved automobile heater, and

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, the reference character l0 designates generally an automobile heater which comprises a radiator core I the radiator core I comprises upper and lower manifolds or headers l2 and I3, respectively,., which communicate with each other through a plurality of tubes 5. The headers l2 and i3 are connected by pipes I1 and 8, respectively, with the cooling system of an automobile, the dash-board of which is shown at 20 in Fig. 5. It will be noted that the pipes I1 and I8 pass through the dash-board 20 and support the heater l0. Interposed between the heater l0 and the dash-board 20 is an electric motor 22 connected by any suitable means (not shown) to the electrical system of the automobile. The motor 22 drives a fan 23' adapted to advance air between the tubes l5 so that there will be an exchange of heat between the air and the heated fluid each bracket by a pin It is a gear 81. The pins 56 are rotatably journaled in brackets I! which are riveted to the inner surface of the shuttercarrying member ll (Figs. 4 and 6). The gears 51 mesh with a worm 60 fixed on the inner end of a stub shaft 6| which is provided at its outer end with a knob 62 (Fig. 3). The shaft BI is journaled in the shutter-carrying memberll and in a bracket 63 which is riveted to the inner side of the shutter-carrying member. The bracket 63 cooperates with the flange H to hold the shuttercarrying member 3! in place upon the annular flange 30 (Fig. 5).

It will be readily understood that it the knob 62 is rotated in the proper direction, the shutters 50 will be displaced angularly from the positions wherein they are shown in full lines in Figs. 2

and 3 to the positions wherein they are shown in dotted lines in the same figures. Also, if the knob is rotated in the opposite direction, the shutters may be brought into their closed positions.

Obviously, one may adjust the shutter-carrying member II and the shutters 50 by means of the knobs 31 and 62 to direct the flow or heated air from the heater It in any direction desired. It will also be understood that the shutters 50 may be adjusted to control the quantity of heated air delivered from the heater. Thus, it the shutters are nearly but not quite closed, a relatively small amount of heated air will be delivered by the heater but when the shutters ill are in their fully opened positions, the maximum amount of heated air will be delivered by the heater.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claim, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as permissible, in view 0! the priorart.

I claim:-

Apparatus for directing the flow of air comprising a housing member having an aperture therein, a shutter-carrying member rotatably journalled on said housing member, a -gear segment carried by one of said members. a gear carried by the other of said members and meshing with said gear segment, means for rotating said gear to rotate said shutter-carrying member, a shutter movably mounted on said shutter-carrying member, means including a plurality of gears for displacing said shutter, and means forming a part of the supports for the shutter-carrying member rotating mechanism and the shutter displacing means tor retaining the shutter-carrying member on the housing member.

PHILMORE F. SPERRY. 

